In only a few days, Ryan Gosling will be singing “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars, backed by 65 male dancers, but, before he embarks in that shtick, he’s gushing about how much Steven Spielberg loved his upcoming film, “The Fall Guy.”
The action film, starring Gosling and Emily Blunt, is set to premiere at SXSW over the weekend, but Gosling has already gotten all the praise he needs thanks to Spielberg. Gosling says Spielberg, apparently, made it a priority to let Gosling known that he’s a big ‘Fall Guy’ fan.
“I saw Steven Spielberg walking in my direction,” Gosling told Variety. “I don’t know Steven Spielberg. I thought there’s no way he’s coming to talk to me. And yet he kept getting closer, and then I thought I know what’s going to happen. I’m going to point to him, and he’s going to go, ‘Not you, behind you,’ so I’m not going to do that. Finally I said, ‘Me?’ and he goes, “Yeah you.’ I go, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t think you were coming to talk to me.’ And I stood up and he gave me a hug and said, ‘I just saw “Fall Guy” and I loved it.'”
“As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter anymore what happens,” Gosling continued. “Steven Spielberg liked it. That was an all time moment for me. I’m really excited for people to see it. I think it’s a really special movie.”
Directing “The Fall Guy” is stunt coordinator-turned-filmmaker David Leitch, a hot commodity right now in Hollywood. He’s so far directed “John Wick,” “Atomic Blonde,” “Deadpool 2,” “Hobbs and Shaw,” and 2022’s “Bullet Train.”
A 3-minute trailer was previously released. It had the feel of a Ryan Reynolds Netflix-produced action movie, but starring better actors (Gosling and Blunt). The action looks well-orchestrated, but are we really supposed to take Gosling seriously as Lee Majors? A washed up stuntman trying to solve a crime … I still have some hopes this’ll be brainless fun.
“The Fall Guy” is set to be released on May 3, 2024, by Universal Pictures. Last November, I posted a mixed reaction from our resident tester.